Red vs Blue: Black Shadow
by Tcgreen21
Summary: Agent Zero, a hidden Agent from Project Freelancer finds himself among friends when he crashes on chorus. the only question is: how did he get here and what did he bring along with him...


**An Unexpected Guest**

Fireworks shot into the air over the new capital of Chorus as they exploded into a beautiful display of colors. The people of Chorus were celebrating the one year anniversary of defeating Charon Industries. Agent Carolina was having a drink by herself on the balcony of a rooftop bar as the festive scene sent people into a celebratory cheer. It was two months after the Reds and Blues' time travel adventure, but she felt empty inside. Not having Agent Washington there was the most painful thing she had ever experienced.

"Why did you have to do it David…" She spoke quietly to herself. In order to fix the timeline, Washington had to get shot in the neck…again. She teared up at the thought as she used her hand to rub her water filled eyes, her red hair falling in front of her face.

"Because it had to be done, you know that Lina." An all too familiar voice talked behind her. She picked her head up and turned around to identify the voice and it was none other than Agent David Washington standing there with a smile on his face. "Miss me?" He asked with a cheeky grin as he held his arms out. She quickly set her drink down as she ran and threw her arms around him.

"…W-Wash, I thought you'd never recover." She whispered softly as Wash spoke up.

"Everything is alright Carolina, I'm not going anywhere." He said with a smile as he wrapped his arms around her. The two embraced for a moment before she finally pulled away.

"I think this is a cause for celebration!" She smirked.

"Agreed." Wash smiled back as the two sat at a hightop table on the balcony and the waiter brought Wash a glass of water to start, before asking what beverage he would prefer. The two talked for hours - reminiscing about their time in Project Freelancer, the horror stories of living with the Reds and Blues, and finally coming to terms on what happened two months ago. it was an easy conversation, Carolina expected to cry more than she already has, but Wash's presence made it more soothing to talk through. It seemed that everything was finally back to normal…that is, until a faint familiar sound began to beep through Wash's tactical pad on his wrist.

"What the hell?" He grumbled as he tapped on the screen.

"What is it?" Carolina asked as she looked to Wash and then peered down to his tac pad.

"It's my old recovery beacon. This thing hasn't gone off in years..." He muttered as he tapped a few things on the screen and it went silent, but then the beeping started right back up again.

"Dammit, this thing must be busted." Wash bit back his frustration as he kept trying to silence it, but every time the sound would come right back to life.

Carolina tilted her head, trying to get a view of the screen. "What's the info on the recovery beacon?" She asked as she looked to Wash for the answer. He tapped a few more buttons as he got a confused look on his face.

"This can't be right…it says that the beacon has just entered the atmosphere of Chorus-" A loud boom drew their attention upwards as a bright orange light tore through the evening sky. The object flew right over the highrise bar that the pair was at. They ran to the balcony, watching the object descend.

"What the hell is that?!" Wash questioned loudly as a spotlight hit the object.

"It's a Longsword…" Carolina spoke in awe as the somewhat large ship flew overhead and disappeared over the hill as a loud crash echoed through the city. "And we're going to find out who the pilot is."

A few hours later, in full suits, Agents Carolina and Washington were trekking through the thick Amazonian-like forests of Chorus, heading in the direction of the recovery beacon that was still beeping on Wash's wrist. He was only mildly annoyed at that point. "How close are we now?" Carolina asked as she scanned the treeline for any possible movement.

"We're about 50 yards out, I can't wait for this stupid thing to turn off." He said annoyed as they pushed through the thick foliage. As they continued their adventure, sounds of twigs and branches snapped around them as Carolina and Wash stopped and scanned the trees, keeping an eye on their motion trackers. "Carolina, are you getting anything on your tracker?"

"No… but I have a feeling that we're not alone…" She squinted at the treeline, trying to find the cause of the noise. After a few minutes they continued walking as thick clouds of black smoke rose from deep in the jungle, "We're getting close, keep your eyes peeled." As they got within 25 yards of the crash the recovery beacon shut off.

"Huh… that's odd… recovery beacons usually don't shut off unt-" Before Wash could finish his sentence, he was swept off his feet by a large unseen object and hit the ground with a thud as a heavy force hit Carolina's chest plate, also sending her to the jungle floor. They quickly got to their feet and put their backs to each other. "What in the hell was that?!" Wash exclaimed as he aimed at the trees.

"I don't know but we need to keep moving." She growled as they advanced to the crash site, hopefully to find some cover from whatever had them in their sights. After a few more yards Carolina moved a branch from their view as the crashed longsword became visible, black smoke was rising from the engine duct.

"Now… that is a big ship." Wash said as he looked at the inoperable aircraft. Carolina rolled her eyes in annoyance as she moved closer to the ship, not letting her guard down as her eyes would dart from the ship to the forest surrounding them.

Just then, a loud robotic male voice changer broke through the silence of the jungle, "Agent Carolina. Agent Washington. Of all the agents of Project Freelancer… you're the only ones to not be missing or dead. For that, I applaud you." The invisible man appeared as his cloaking unit deactivated, he was standing ten feet from them on a tree that was taken down by the ship. Carolina and Wash aimed their weapons at the unknown male as they kept a distance from him.

"Who are you?" Carolina ground her teeth as she looked through the scope of her battle rifle.

The man couldn't help but chuckle as he looked at the two, the light bounced off the white visor of his EVA helmet. He pressed a button on his tactical pad, speaking with a southern baritone voice, the filter gone. "Relax Agent Carolina, you have no reason to worry about me, I am a friend… my name is Agent Zero."


End file.
